Two Teams of PNW Calumet Engineering Students Excelled at the NASA Human Exploration Rover Challenge

NASA-Rover-winning-PUC-team-2016In an extraordinary performance of engineering design and know-how, two teams of Purdue University Northwest Calumet Campus engineering students claimed three first places against a field of national and international competitors during last weekend’s (4/8-9) NASA Human Exploration Rover Challenge.

The competition, held at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Ala., challenged a field of 39 College-University Division student teams and a division of high school competitors from six nations to design, construct and race human-powered rover vehicles. The vehicles were designed to perform in challenging terrains similar to uninhabited planets, moons, asteroids and comets.

Fastest assembly & race time
One PNW Calumet team recorded the fastest combined assembly and race time of 6 minutes, 1 second. It also placed first in the Sample Retrieval Challenge, a competition in which soil, liquid and rock samples are collected with tools while the rover is driven across the course. Scoring is based on time expended collecting and returning samples within a 25-minute time limit. The PNW Calumet team received awards of $3,000 and $250, respectively, for its victories.

Comprising the team were Thomas Hardy of Northumberland, England; Andrea David, Julia Brown and Rachel Kwain of Crown Point; Doug Guess of Valparaiso; and Benjamin Chijike Nnaji of Enugu, Nigeria.

The other Calumet rover entry placed sixth in the primary race with a time of 8:14, but earned the Neil Armstrong Best Design Award for best technical approach in responding to the engineering challenge of navigating the extraterrestrial terrain.

Team members were Jacob Lauritzen of Ogden Dunes; Ryan Hensen of Valparaiso; Christian Ramos of South Holland, Ill.; Kamaal Harris of Chicago; Justin Peterson of Grant Park, Ill.; and Dominique Lettiere of Oak Lawn, Ill.

Also assisting in the winning efforts were Aaron Kruse of Hammond; Joshua Wachowski of Schererville; Nicholas Trogdon of Joliet, Ill.; and Hejab Alqahtani of Saudi Arabia.

Professor of Mechanical Engineering Harvey Abramowitz has been the longtime faculty advisor of Calumet teams that have competed in NASA’s annual event. He is assisted by Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering Donald Gray.

“I am exceptionally proud of this year’s group of students, but also the students before them who competed in the NASA competition since Purdue Calumet began participating in 2003,” Abramowitz said. “Our success this year is linked to the experience and knowledge base provided through the years by our previous student competitors.”

Competition challenges
The course, approximately 0.7 mile in length, was strewn with miscellaneous extraterrestrial surface-like obstacles, including a crater area. Each student team was responsible for building its own rover, with two members—one male and one female—driving the vehicle and negotiating the course.

As part of the challenge, each team adhered to rover weight and volume constraints, carrying unassembled components of its vehicle to the course starting line. After assembly and a safety check, the race began.

Purdue University Northwest
With recent approval by the Higher Learning Commission, Purdue University Calumet and Purdue University North Central have unified to become Purdue University Northwest (PNW), a comprehensive regional university within the Purdue University system. PNW welcomes its first class of students this fall. Current students will complete the spring semester as enrollees of Purdue Calumet in Hammond or Purdue North Central in Westville. Purdue Northwest becomes Indiana’s fifth largest public university, enrolling more than 15,000 students and offering 70+ degree programs.